Employee giving and volunteerism

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When we challenge ourselves to be an exemplary global citizen, it’s a call to action that extends beyond our policies and processes and to each of HP’s employees. We encourage employees to volunteer their time and donate money and HP products to benefit good causes. Supporting community organizations improves morale, develops new skills and makes employees more productive. Beyond that, supporting worthy causes increases awareness of the HP brand and strengthens HP’s reputation and relationships with local communities and other important stakeholders.

	Approach

In many countries, local HP offices inform employees about opportunities to make donations and volunteer their time. We encourage employees to choose projects that complement their professional skills in order to bring the most benefit to the organizations.

To maximize the benefit for these organizations and for HP, we have increased coordination of employee involvement activities with our social investment programs. We now offer employee engagement opportunities for some local social investment programs (see Social investment), and we link product donations to volunteerism by giving to organizations where HP employees volunteer. For example, employees who volunteer in Germany can enter HP vor Ort, a prize drawing to win HP equipment for the organization they support. In 2007, local German charities received 75 HP notebooks and printers through this program.

We also offer employee involvement activities aligned with our global citizenship priorities. For example, we have invited employees to contribute energy efficiency ideas to the Sustainable Innovation Zone (SIZ), an internal website developed in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund.

Our largest giving and volunteerism programs are in the United States. As part of an annual campaign, HP offers one-to-one cash matching for employee gifts to qualified nonprofit organizations, up to $1,000 per employee per fiscal year. Throughout the year, U.S. employees may also donate designated HP technology to qualified charitable organizations or schools. Employees contribute 25 percent of the list price up to $5,000, and HP contributes the remaining 75 percent.

We also encourage employee involvement in their communities by allowing them to volunteer on company time. Employees based in the United States and Canada may volunteer up to four hours per month, at their manager’s discretion. In other countries, programs vary according to local labor laws.

We are exploring how to expand volunteerism programs to all regions in which HP operates and further engage employees in our strategic giving efforts.

Retiree volunteering

Retirees are a sizeable group of brand champions, and we encourage employees to get involved in the community even after they retire from HP. HP Retiree Clubs—seven in the United States and at least six in other countries—regularly organize local events and community projects. For example, HP retirees volunteered their time in a mini HP photo lab after the 2007 San Diego wildfires, copying photographs victims had lost but borrowed from relatives or friends.